{"id":23749,"date":"2017-01-02T10:03:18","date_gmt":"2017-01-02T15:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=23749"},"modified":"2017-01-02T08:10:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T13:10:10","slug":"the-10-best-films-of-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/02\/the-10-best-films-of-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 Best Films of 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This is one of the first time in years I\u2019ve had such a difficult period deciding which movies had to be cut from my top ten and which deserved to stay on. Of course I didn\u2019t catch every thing I wanted to, as probably Manchester by the Sea and Edge of Seventeen may have been on the list, if I saw them. So while there are some omissions out of my control, this is the ten I ultimately stuck to. This is the ten best movies I saw in 2016, along with a big list of potential place holders I quite loved, just the same.<\/p>\n

Movies in 2016 that almost made the list includes <\/strong>the moving science fiction thriller Midnight Special<\/strong>, the touching sequel Finding Dory<\/strong>, the elaborate and beautiful The Handmaiden<\/strong>, the fun Ti West western In a Valley of Violence<\/strong>, the superb and very scary sequel The Conjuring 2<\/strong>, the fun and moving Rogue One: A Star Wars Story<\/strong>, the hilarious and raucous antithesis to the superhero movie Deadpool<\/strong>, the sweeping fantasy thriller Doctor Strange<\/strong>, the incredible crime drama Hell or High Water<\/strong>, the very fun Adam Wingard reboot Blair Witch<\/strong>, the moving and fun teen drama Sing Street,<\/strong> the teeth grindingly compelling 10 Cloverfield Lane<\/strong>, and the chaotic survival thriller Green Room. <\/strong>Kudos to everyone behind these top notch movies I plan to revisit again and again in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Now on the Top 10\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/em>10. <\/strong>Captain America: Civil War
\nDirected by Joe Russo, Anthony Russo
\nWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Marvel Studios
\nRelease Date: May 6th
\n<\/strong>The second \u201cCaptain America\u201d sequel had every chance to be a confused and scattered clusterfuck, but The Russo Brothers are able to fit in a ton of potential Avengers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to help confront a conflict that promises to rip Earth\u2019s Mightiest Heroes apart. With Marvel slowly gaining control back of some of their most iconic characters, we also get to see Marvel\u2019s version of Spider-Man. Spider-Man\u2019s brief appearance is very important to the events that unfold, as he and Tony Stark\/Iron Man are two sides of the same coin. \u201cCivil War\u201d takes off from \u201cWinter Soldier\u201d building a more psychological villain with a unique plan for revenge, all the while we get to see some of the universe unfold on screen and grow larger with the integration of Ant-Man. What\u2019s even more gratifying is that Black Panther finally gets his big screen debut, which ends up being dignified, exciting, and compelling. \u201cCivil War\u201d touches on the consequences of being a superhero, and what happens when lives are lost in our attempts to save the world. Once again with Marvel and Disney working together, they prove they can create a well thought out, exciting, and raucously fun clashing of superheroes and titans that culminates in plot twists, revealed secrets, and pure anger.<\/p>\n

Watch it with: <\/strong>Superman\/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/strong>9. <\/strong>Hush
\nDirected by Mike Flanagan
\nBlumhouse Productions
\nRelease Date: April 8th
\n<\/sup><\/strong>My favorite moment in \u201cHush\u201d comes in the finale when Maddie, a deaf and mute woman, finds herself being terrorized by a masked madman lurking in the woods. After a big obstacle introduces herself, Maddie realizes she has to think quick, and begins considering various scenarios she can approach the slasher from. What we think is an event unfolding is really Maddie thinking to herself, as her vocal self: her conscious mind, is instructing her on all the ways this battle with the madman can play out. In every event she loses, but she begins considering every angle again and again. Maddie is an author in the film, and she\u2019s not just considering every scenario, she\u2019s thinking like a writer. A writer never thinks on one road, but travels through various roads, until they find the scenario they either love, or have to settle on. Maddie is a woman with the odds stacked against her from the moment \u201cHush\u201d begins, and she has to settle on the last alternative. Director Mike Flanagan has a great respect for writers, and it shows by the way he writes his heroine. \u201cHush\u201d a masterful mix of slasher tropes, home invasion tropes, and genuine human drama in what is an absolutely stellar horror film.With three great horror films under his belt, Mike Flanagan has proven he\u2019s a horror heavyweight who has a lot more in store for us in the years to come.<\/p>\n

Watch it with: <\/strong>Wait Until Dark (1967)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>8. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
\nDirected by Taika Waititi
\nPiki Films
\nRelease Date: June 24th
\n<\/strong>After a horrible summer, \u201cHunt for the Wilderpeople\u201d was the pick me up I needed when reviewing the movie for Fantasia 2016. \u201cHunt for the Wilderpeople\u201d is a charming, funny, and brilliant road trip comedy about an older man and young boy searching for a purpose in life, who decide to cast off the shackles of civilization once and for all. What begins as a misunderstanding stemming from sudden tragedy, turns in to a massive manhunt, and then in to a spiritual journey, where our two protagonists Ricky and Uncle Hec find themselves confronting certain aspects of their lives. This includes mortality, human cruelty, and the potential for something greater that is always at our feet if we\u2019re willing to look hard enough and fight for it. \u201cHunt for the Wilderpeple\u201d never sags, always keeping a brisk pace and purely human tale moving forward, with a lot of interesting narrative turns and so much hilarious moments, including Ricky\u2019s catchphrase when Uncle Hec is ambushed by a group of hunters. Everyone from Sam Neill, Rachel House, and Julian Dennison are incredible here, and this is a surefire crowd pleaser that will leave you smiling from ear to ear.<\/p>\n

Watch it with: <\/strong>Up (2009)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>7. The Nice Guys
\nDirected by Shane Black
\nWarner Bros. Pictures
\nRelease Date: May 20th
\n<\/strong>In the pantheon of cinematic heavyweights, Shane Black deserves to be up there with Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg. He\u2019s an artist who creates genuinely excellent buddy movies that paint two very interesting and complex characters that work beautifully off of one another. He also knows how to paint the male dynamic as something very unique, and also as one that can also be nurtured by women. In this case, \u201cThe Nice Guys\u201d doesn\u2019t create a romantic wedge, but a female presence barely in her teens that saves our two heroes more times than they realize. \u201cThe Nice Guys\u201d is a neo-noir filled with laughs, great action, and a ton of substance. Russell Crowe is excellent, Matt Bomer is menacing, Kim Basinger is deliciously devious, Angourie Rice is the break out performance of the year, and if you think Ryan Gosling can\u2019t be funny, then prepare to laugh harder than you have in all of 2016. If anything, watch \u201cThe Nice Guys\u201d for the shockingly excellent tribute to Abbott and Costello that comes out of left field and is just so goddamn funny. I wish this had been a humongous financial success, since I\u2019d happily see a sequel to \u201cThe Nice Guys.\u201d Please, bring these characters back in some form. Pretty please?<\/p>\n

Watch it with: <\/strong>Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> 6. <\/strong>The Neon Demon<\/strong>
\nDirected by Nicholas Winding Refn<\/strong>
\nSpace Rocket Nation
\nRelease Date: June 24th
\n<\/strong>The world values beauty above all else. We worship it, we admire it, we talk about it, we excuse it, we write about it, and it rules society. Beauty is used to manipulate the masses, and the public not only consumes it, but will do anything to acquire what\u2019s considered conventional beauty. They\u2019ll spend thousands of dollars to own it, eat it, drink it, and breathe it, and long after the beauty has faded, we\u2019re still hopelessly infatuated with it. \u201cThe Neon Demon\u201d is about the destruction of beauty and how the industry consumes young virginal Jessie (Elle Fanning), as she begins to experience sexual frustration, learn the ropes of modeling and soon enough begins to embrace her narcissism and beauty. This makes her about the most imposing and threatening model daring to saunter down a catwalk. Refn\u2019s film is stunning, compelling, disgusting, and garners one of the most stomach churning finales I\u2019ve seen in a while. Nicholas Winding Refn\u2019s \u201cThe Neon Demon\u201d is one of the most divisive movies of the year that didn\u2019t feature superheroes. It\u2019s a stunning, and brilliantly realized statement about beauty, purity, and how we\u2019ll do anything to acquire both.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Watch it with: <\/strong>Suspiria (1977)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>5. Train to Busan (Bu-san-haeng)
\nDirected by Yeon Sang-ho
\nRedpeter Film
\nRelease Date: July 22nd
\n<\/strong>It\u2019s amazing how quickly this movie snuck out from the corner and has risen to become a gem everyone is discovering. \u201cTrain to Busan\u201d is the zombie movie \u201cWorld War Z\u201d should have been all along. It\u2019s fast paced, it\u2019s gory, the iteration of zombies here are frightening and insanely terrifying, and the characters we follow are complex. In spite of a ton of large sequences involving packs of screeching and running zombies lunging at victims and tearing them to shreds, director Yeon Sang-ho packs in a lot of heart, and genuine human emotion. The characters we watch try to survive in these horrific circumstances are all flawed, they\u2019re occasionally selfish, and they evolve over the course of the film. Much like \u201cSnowpiercer,\u201d director Yeon Sang-ho uses the setting of a train as a metaphor for class warfare and the class structure, in which the poor and disabled are left to fend for themselves, while the rich protect each other and decide who deserves to be safe. Along the way there are a ton of brilliant moments of pure horror and action, from a scene on a descending escalator, a fight on a dark train cart, and the heart wrenching finale. Those who insist you can\u2019t mine new material from the zombie sub-genre really should give this a whirl. I hope people continue discovering this movie and giving it a shot before Hollywood remakes it.<\/p>\n

Watch it with: <\/strong>Seoul Station (2016)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/strong>4. <\/strong>Everybody Wants Some!!<\/strong>
\nDirected by Richard Linklater<\/strong>
\nParamount Pictures
\nRelease Date: July 12th
\n<\/strong>I had my doubts about Richard Linklater committing to a spiritual sequel of his iconic nineties teen drama \u201cDazed and Confused,\u201d but he didn\u2019t let me down. \u201cEverybody Wants Some!!\u201d is very based around men, as director Linklater delves in to the persona and interplay of the male animal, and focuses on a baseball team ending their summer as best as they can by partying, drinking, and trying to get laid. Along the way they learn a lot about one another, and they also get to learn a lot about themselves. \u201cEverybody Wants Some!!\u201d is very much in the spirit of \u201cDazed and Confused,\u201d focusing first and foremost on drawing rich, likable, and occasionally obnoxious characters, unfolding a simplistic story about life, and also dealing up a hell of a soundtrack. Linklater being Linklater, much like \u201cDazed and Confused,\u201d the soundtrack is not a cinematic element, so much as a character and entity used to fuel our characters and move them in to very unique and important parts of their lives. Linklater avoids all pitfalls and clich\u00e9s and offers some fantastic moments including a sing along to \u201cRapper\u2019s Delight,\u201d a foosball contest, and a wonderful scene in a disco. Am I the only one slowly growing infatuated with Zoey Deutch?<\/p>\n

Watch it with: <\/strong>Dazed and Confused (1993)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> 3. <\/strong>The Witch
\nDirected by Robert Eggers
\nA24 Films
\nRelease Date: April 1st
\n<\/strong>Robert Egger\u2019s masterful horror work combines folklore, urban legends, melodrama, and fairy tales to delve in to the slow unraveling of the familial unit as they succumb to paranoia, grief, and madness. It\u2019s no spoiler to confess there is indeed a witch in the movie, but that more than adds to the movie than detracts. The more we know what\u2019s out in the woods the more we see how hysteria and religious suppression helps bring down a once proud family, all of whom are slowly preyed upon by pure merciless evil. Eggers\u2019 horror film is an unsettling and uncomfortable experience, and one that dabbles in to a villain that peaks in to the psyches of their victims. In one of the most ick worthy moments of the film, young Caleb notices his older sister\u2019s cleavage enticed. Later as he\u2019s wandering in the woods, he\u2019s preyed upon by a buxom woman in a red hood, seemingly out of a fairytale, who not only seduces him, but when his family finds him later on in the nude and unconscious, Eggers goes the extra mile suggesting he was also very viciously raped. \u201cThe Witch\u201d dabbles in to a lot of taboos dwelling on horrors we don\u2019t see, and when he delivers the shots of madness and terror, it\u2019s mind blowing, and demented down to its black core. Eggers is a director to look out for, as I think he has more tales of horror up his sleeve.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Watch it with: <\/strong>The Shining (1980)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>2. <\/strong>Arrival<\/strong>
\nDirected by Denis Villeneuve<\/strong>
\n21 Laps Entertainment
\nRelease Date: September 25th
\n<\/strong>One of the biggest setbacks in the world, and one of the biggest things that will spell doom for the world is our lack of communication. We\u2019re more connected to one another now more than ever but we still can\u2019t communicate with each other. Denis Villeneuve\u2019s science fiction masterpiece isn\u2019t just about alien visitation, or aliens invading us, but a species where we are, that are trying to convince us to open up the lines of communication and work together for our futures and to save ourselves in the long run. Working with ideas about time paradoxes, time travel, and alternate universes, Denis Villeneuve and writer Eris Heisserer subvert the very ideas of a movie about aliens, working against a fluid storyline to completely flip the script when we least expect it. In a year where the biggest alien spectacle revolved around large aliens fighting the military, Villeneuve\u2019s movie dares to explore the lesser explored ideas about communication, learning to break language barriers, and perhaps work toward a higher state of mind. What\u2019s more, as we learn through Amy Adams character Louisa, sometimes if we want to preserve the greater good, we have to make some massive sacrifices. \u201cArrival\u201d makes a very important statement and explores how maybe an advanced species won\u2019t be concerned with ruling us so much as teaching us a crucial part of humanity that we\u2019ve lost in the age of technology.<\/p>\n

Watch it with: <\/strong>Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>1. <\/strong>Kubo and the Two Strings
\nDirected by: Travis Knight
\nWritten by: Marc Haimes, Chris Butler
\nStarring: Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes
\nLAIKA
\nRelease Date: August 19th
\n<\/strong>It\u2019s a damn shame \u201cKubo and the Two Strings\u201d wasn\u2019t a commercial success, since it\u2019s easily the best animated film of 2016 and my favorite movie of the year. Laika has successfully demonstrated that they can tell a marvelous, and epic tale about family, and loss through the art of stop motion animation. While all the other studios plop down computer animated nonsense, \u201cKubo and the Two Strings\u201d tells a story of good and evil with a traditional animation method that helps enhance the magic and awe behind the tale Laika gives to their audience. While there is a lot to be said about moving forward with your life and letting go of bad memories, it\u2019s also a good idea to always embrace the past and understand what importance it can have in your life. When we meet Kubo, he\u2019s being saved by his mother who rescued him and fled after his grandfather cut his eye out.<\/p>\n

Kubo\u2019s mother moves in to a cave by the sea, over looking the land, which acts as a means of constantly reminding her of the past, and how to look for the incoming menace of her twin sisters. Kubo uses the past as a means of telling epic stories and amazing tales of human endurance and strength, along with the help of his amazing origami and the love of the villagers around him. The only way the stories take on their own life is by Kubo spinning his tales, the villagers remembering key details every time. Without memories, our characters can\u2019t remember what brought them to this road, so they ultimately can\u2019t end their tale. Kubo is a heroic and very well meaning young man whose memories guide him through his search for his father Hanzo\u2019s sacred armor. The help of the live version of his monkey charm, and the inept beetle samurai keep Kubo moving forward enough, but also remember to look back for his aunts, both of whom are void of emotions and have no time to show pity for Kubo.<\/p>\n

They even don No masks, which garner perpetually frozen gazes bereft of humanity. \u201cKubo and the Two Strings\u201d through and through is a remarkable tale about grief, and how we can take the bad memories, and the pain and use it wisely, rather than allow it to change us in to bitter shells. It has substance, power, and is a message I\u2019d love for its target audience to soak in.<\/p>\n

Watch it with: <\/strong>The Secret of Kells (2009)<\/p>\n

Overlooked<\/em> in 2016:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Invitation
\nDirected by Karyn Kusama
\nDrafthouse Films
\nRelease Date: April 8th
\n<\/strong>Karyn Kusama\u2019s thriller about the way our quick fix generation has learned to handle grief and mourning is mind blowing and absolute shock to the system. Ms. Kusama consistently keeps audiences guessing about what the hell is going on in \u201cThe Invitation\u201d after a Will, his wife, a bunch of old friends are invited to a party hosted by his ex-wife. After noticing some odd events and goings on, Will begins to question his sanity. Is he losing his mind, or do the hosts of his party, including their mysterious friend Pruitt, have sinister plans for them all? Filled with amazing cinematography, and stark commentary, Karyn Kusama\u2019s film deserves as much attention as it can get. The final haunting scene will have leave you trying to catch your breath.<\/p>\n

If you<\/strong> have a top ten of 2016, feel free to let me know in the comments!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is one of the first time in years I\u2019ve had such a difficult period deciding which movies had to be cut from my top ten and which deserved to stay on. Of course I didn\u2019t catch every thing I wanted to, as probably Manchester by the Sea and Edge of Seventeen may have been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[58,64,240,302,349,477,633,846,1343,922,1512,950,1049,1087,1221],"class_list":["post-23749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-year-enders","tag-action","tag-adaptation","tag-crime","tag-drama","tag-fantasy","tag-horror","tag-marvel","tag-richard-linklater","tag-science-ficton","tag-sequel","tag-shane-black","tag-slasher","tag-the-avengers","tag-thriller","tag-zombies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23749"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23764,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23749\/revisions\/23764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}